One Thing

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Hello there my wonderful readers! Well, here we are! We have another late chapter but it's gonna be cuter. Just so you guys know we're going to be bouncing around season 2 for the remainder of the story. And I mean seriously. I'm really messing with the timeline here. So be prepared for that. Here's hoping you guys enjoy this chapter too!

Chapter 14

Victor Hesse had known too much.

So he had Ro pop him a portal into Halawa. He got the answers he wanted, which was it was Hesse who had helped Steve escape. That he hadn't told Steve all he knew, but he had told him that his dad knew more about Wo Fat that he was letting on. He hadn't told Steve anything about Ro, not because he hadn't asked, but because he was saving it.

He had promised him more info on her if Steve got him out of prison.

So, Wo Fat slashed his throat to make sure he never talked again.

Once Ro pulled him back onto the boat with her he knew that he was going to make a very big decision.

He thought about it all night, about what he was going to have to do. He knew what he was going to have to do but he didn't want to do it. He never wanted to, but it was looking like he wasn't going to have a choice.

So he waited until the morning to drop the bomb with her. But when it came to the morning, with her sitting there chattering happily away while she was eating breakfast, he couldn't do it. She was so happy to be sitting on that sundeck with him and Con, tucking into her pancakes. So he figured he'd do it later.

Then he couldn't bring himself to do it in the afternoon when her sea sickness meds had worn off and she was sick.

But by the time her sea sickness meds had kicked in they were snuggled up in the theater watching one of her many Disney movies and he just didn't want to ruin the mood.

So now it was night time and he was going to tell her now because a plane was going to be taking off tomorrow afternoon with her on it. Whether either of them wanted to or not.

He went to Ro's room where she was sitting on her bed with her guitar in her lap and her music book laid flat in front of her.

"Have I interrupted you?"

"Naw, I'm stuck on this lyric," she said, tossing her guitar to the side. "What's up?"

"Just seeing how you are."

"I'm good." She had a narrowed look about her and he knew that she was going to argue with his plan. "Is something wrong?"

"No… well… yes…"

"Do we need to jump?"

"No," he said again. "No, it's not that kind of trouble."

"But we are in trouble?" she asked and he nodded. She was officially worried.

Right away she reached over and pulled her little white bunny to her. It was a habit of hers. If she got nervous, or panicked she needed to fidget, usually with her fingers. If her Mr. Buns was available, she held onto him.

"Ro, Steven… he is very, very interested in you," he said.

"He thinks I'm dead."

"I know, but when I went to the prison you came up, like right away. And every time he finds us, it's where you've been. And I'm not saying it's your fault but it's one hell of a coincidence."

"Okay… so… what do we do?"

"He was coming at me hard before, but now that I framed him for murder and he think I killed you he's been coming even harder and I don't see him letting up any time soon. I cannot have him figuring out you're alive again. I think… I think… I need to send you to Lucia."

Ro's eyes widened and her breathing quickened. She was already starting to panic. "You're going to send me away?"

"Yes Ro, I have to send you away," he said and her lips began to tremble. Oh god if she started to cry he was going to cave, he just knew it. "We have to, Ro. Its for your own safety."

"No it's not it's for yours."

"Ro, if he figures out who you are, who you really are, he'll figure out who I am. And then he'll know that he can use you against me and he will."

"You don't know that."

"It's what I would do," he reminded her and she sighed. Her eyes turned away from him and he got a little closer to her. He put a hand to her knee and only then did he look back to her. "I need you to be safe, Ro. And if it's not with me then we're going to have to send you to Lucia."

"You know I don't like being alone."

"I do. I know, that's why Con is going to go with you."

"So you're going to be alone?" Ro asked.

"Ro, I'll be fine! I've been alone almost all my life. Alone I'm used to, taking care of you I'm not." Ro huffed and he reached out to pinch the point of her chin. A loving gesture he used with only her. "Please believe me. If I could keep you here I would. But I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I don't want anything to happen to you either," she whispered and then she hugged him. "But if you really need me to go I will."

Wo Fat hugged her back. His heart heavy, but ultimately glad he got her to agree. It would be the first time since North Korea that Ro would be away from him. At least this time he knew where she was going for sure.

Because he was the one sending her there.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Steve had been having a hard week.

He had opened up the search for Rory, fully understanding that it probably wasn't her name.

And he found a file that Joe didn't have.

This was the only alias that wasn't just fake names, created out of thin air. This one was a stolen identity.

Rowan Pierce.

She showed up for the first time in Victoria in 2007, she had broken into a house and told everyone she used to live there. When they asked her name, she told them she was Rowan Pierce.

The problem was Rowan Pierce was still born. She had never lived in that house, though the person who did was the mother of that stillborn.

She got arrested and then put in a psych ward.

A week later she's gone. Just vanished, right out of the ward.

Six months later she's in that hospital room in China with a stab wound with Wo Fat doting on her.

It was clear. Someone, probably Wo Fat or her brother, had broken her out of that psych ward for some reason. But the problem was she didn't exist before that. And no one knew who she was before she showed up in Victoria claiming to be Rowan Pierce.

The cops in Canada had run her DNA through every Database when they found her. It came up to nothing. And she wouldn't admit to being anyone else. She just kept saying the same thing.

I am Rowan Pierce.

So if he was a gambling man he'd have to say that that was probably her real name. Her brothers must have just kept her under the radar up until than.

Though, it wouldn't be until after that China incident that the Master would become a thing. So, he wasn't sure what that meant. But it was a very odd timeline. Because if he went by this timeline, then Wo Fat predated the Master.

He also learned that every single crime that Rory had been arrested before was a theft. So, the real reason that the CIA picked her up, was because Interpol had arrested her for stealing the Mona Lisa out of the Louvre. The CIA took custody of her because Wo Fat was supposedly in the process of selling a nuke and the incorrect intel Jenna had just gotten had lead to the death of her fiancé and his whole team.

Then, of course, Wo Fat gassed the whole building to get her back.

So, she very much was a criminal just like her brothers. She was just a thief and not a cold-blooded murderer.

And that made sense. Her being a pickpocket and getting in and out of every locked room and handcuff he put her in. These were all traits that would be useful for a thief.

None of this proved if she was alive though. He was just hoping that she was, and if he ever got a hold of Wo Fat again, he was going to make him tell the truth.

But not everything he was dealing with that week was to do with Rory or Rowan or whatever her name was. He was also trying to figure out what his dad talked about with Wo Fat.

Both his dad and Joe were being tight lipped about that stupid video, that meeting John had with the Governor and Wo Fat. So, to get some kind of truth he had a friend in NCIS take a look at the video.

She found out that they were talking about something called Shelburne. John had wanted more information on it. Wo Fat had gotten visibly upset by the mention of Shelburne and then asked how John knew about that.

After that she couldn't really read the words.

Steve brought up Shelburne and both Joe and his dad panicked. He could see it on their faces but they wouldn't tell him a single thing about it.

Yeah.

This was getting annoying.

So not only was his dad keeping secrets, but the girl he had strong feelings for, who may or may not be alive was a criminal.

Like a proper criminal.

And Jenna Kaye had been right about her. She clearly knew more than she had been letting on and he had let her trick him into think that she was a ditz who knew nothing.

That day he came home and he could hear a commotion in the house. He quietly made his way up the drive and to the front door that was partially open, gun drawn and ready to go.

He peaked in to find his dad on the ground knocked out, though it looked like he was breathing. And there, in his kitchen, was Wo Fat.

He was in a grey pin stripped suit and he had Joe on his knees, the cord to the phone wrapped around his neck.

Aw fucking shit.

Steve came fully into the house at that point, stepped over his father and then moved towards the kitchen.

"Let him go!" Steve shouted and Wo Fat turned, a dangerous snarl on his face. But he took in Steve's gun and eventually dropped the hold on Joe.

Joe collapsed to the ground coughing, while Wo Fat turned the whole way towards Steve.

"Hands behind your head," he ordered but Wo Fat didn't move. Steve got a fraction closer. "I said put your hands behind your head."

Still Wo Fat didn't move.

"I said…" he started and then Wo Fat did move, he had a knife up his sleeve, like literally. And he threw it at Steve.

Steve dodge it, but it meant that Wo Fat could come at him while he was distracted. The man kicked him square in the chest, then spun kicked him down to the ground.

He came to stand over Steve, kicking the gun out of his hand. But when he went to kick again Steve blocked and took him down.

Steve got on top of him, but being that close just meant that Wo Fat could punch him, four blows to the body. Then he wrapped a leg around his torso before maneuvering Steve off of him. Steve blocked three hits before he managed to get Wo Fat off of him.

When he got up again Wo Fat came at him, slamming into him and into the wall behind him. Steve managed to block another kick before grabbing Wo Fat and managing to slam him into the wall.

That time he managed to land a good couple of hits in before Wo Fat kicked him again.

That time when he fell back he landed close to where his gun had landed.

Steve lunged for it and when he turned Wo Fat was bolting towards the back door. Steve got up, went to the door to chase him, but a static hiss broke through the silence and when Steve turned the corner the man was gone. Vanished without a trace. AGAIN.

What was this guy? A fucking ghost?

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Wo Fat came tumbling out of the void.

There had been no portal, nothing except a tug between his shoulder blades and then he was careening through the dark space between words. Different colored strings leading to blinding lights and that suffocating heavy feeling, like he was being pulled through pudding until he came out the other side.

The trip itself couldn't have been more than five seconds but it always felt like an eternity.

Wo Fat hit the ground and then shrugged off Ro's hands.

"Jesus Christ Ro!" he shouted, forcing himself to stand on his wobbly legs. The void did that to him. Made him shaky. Made him feel weak, it was why he hated it so much. But the floor was also moving, which meant he was back on the Aurelia, so that was also why he was so unstable. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I had to!" she cried back but he wasn't buying it. Ro always used her powers to intervene when she didn't need to.

"Bullshit, and you weren't even charged!" he cried. "That trip was hell! If you were going to directly disobey me the least you could have done is charge yourself."

It was the whole reason they stole that ray gun from her father's lab in the first place. If she shot herself with it her powers would get a recharge and she could use them properly. Which meant going through the void and having it not feel like he was being dragged through pudding.

"I'm sorry! I didn't get good notice!" she snapped. "It all came to me like a minute go. This sudden urgent need to grab you. So I did."

"God Ro! I had it handled, I didn't need you!" he shouted and those tears were starting to well up into her eyes.

"Yes I did! Cause if Steve got you cornered, he was going to shoot you! I didn't want him to shoot you!"

Aw goddamn it!

Right away Wo Fat pulled her into the hug as she started crying in earnest, and she hugged him back. She cried a little bit into his chest and he just stood there awkwardly petting her back until she stopped.

He shook his head. He got that she was probably faking her tears so he wouldn't yell at her, she did that a lot, but she also had to realize how mad he was. He had purposely set her away and yet she was back, and she had used her powers, powers he could have anyone let alone McGarrett realizing she had, to save him.

Usually, her strings warned her well in advance when he was in danger, they were never this late, but them being late was probably why she was so panicked.

She hadn't even popped a portal. The acting of pulling him had always made him uneasy. Con had no such issues, man could get thrown, dropped, or pulled and he'd be fine on the other side. Wo Fat always lagged a bit.

"You got the vision late huh?" he asked and she sniffed softly before nodding. "That's happening a lot lately."

"Yeah, I don't know what that's about. It's like I'm blocked or something," she said already letting him go.

Those eyes were dry again, which meant, to him, that she wasn't as upset as she portrayed herself to be. But he wasn't going to say anything about it.

"Hmmm, you've seemed to be blocked ever since you went to live with McGarrett," he said. "And now, every time he's involved you're not getting your information or void sense in a timely fashion."

Ro turned back to him. "Do you think he did something to me?"

"I mean… what could he have done?" Wo asked.

The answer was, nothing.

Steven didn't know about the void, he wouldn't know how to manipulate it.

In fact Wo had a theory. Ro liked Steven, liked him a lot actually. She wouldn't admit that to him because Steven was his nemesis and he was out to get them, but she did like him. It was why she had stayed at his place for so long, let him think that Wo Fat was out to kill her and she needed protection. He had a feeling her feelings for Steven were clouding her strings, cause usually she was much better at protecting her family.

"It's no big deal," he eventually said. "Thank you for saving me, but seriously, next time, listen to me. It's my job to protect you, not the other way around."

Ro smiled up to him and he smiled back.

"I would love to know how you convinced Con to go along with this?" Because that too was a common theme. His assassin and the body guard he paid to protect Ro, rarely followed his direct orders.

"I unno, I told him I thought you'd be in trouble and he agreed to pull you. I didn't want to pull you all the way to Lucia though, so we hopped on back first."

Wo Fat shook his head. Why the hell had he paid for a plane? His sister had teleportation powers after all. Yes he wanted a paper trail, but seriously, from now on he was just going to let her jump.

And he was going to talk to his bodyguard to make sure that he remembered, absolutely remembered, that he was the one calling the shots, not Ro.